CRIME REPORT

HEROIC TEACHER PREVENTS DEATHS IN SCHOOL SHOOTING

Witnesses describe terror of school shooting - The Denver Post.

"He was a scruffy-looking dude, with stringy black hair."

The shooter was firing without aiming, holding the gun toward the middle of his body. She thought she heard three shots, quickly followed by two or three more.

The gunman hunched forward as if he was fishing in his pocket for ammo. As a shocked Stegall watched, David Benke, a Deer Creek math teacher, tackled the man. Bullets spilled onto the ground.

"I ran out of the truck and went to see if anybody was hurt. The teacher had already tackled him, and two or three other guys tackled and jumped on him," Stegall said.

Deer Creek Middle School students Reagan Weber and Matt Thieu were injured during the school shooting.

LITTLETON, Colo. —  A 32-year-old convicted felon opened fire outside Deer Creek Middle School in Littleton, Colorado Tuesday afternoon, wounding two students before he was tackled by a math teacher as he reloaded, authorities said, according to KDVR.com.

Court records show the suspect, identified by Jefferson County authorities as Colorado resident Bruco Strongeagle Eastwood, has a rap sheet that includes arrests for domestic violence, assault, menacing, driving under the influence and motor vehicle theft.

He was scheduled to make his initial court appearance at 10 a.m. Wednesday morning to face multiple charges, including 2 counts of attempted first degree murder.

According to witnesses, math teacher Dr. David Benke tackled and disarmed the gunman, and then helped subdue him until police arrived moments later.

Steve Potter, a Deer Creek bus driver, witnessed Benke's heroics.

"Dr. Benke was out there at the time the school was being let out. It looked to me like he heard the shot and decided to react accordingly," Steve Potter told FOX31 News. "There was a little bit of a wresting match for about 5 seconds or so," before Benke had disarmed the gunman, Potter said.

Potter, who also helped subdue the gunman after Benke tackled him, said the suspect was rambling incoherently as they held him down.

"He was uttering some obscenities here and there, but nothing that made a whole lot of sense to me."

Officials praised Benke's quick response.

"School staff had already taken a suspect into custody prior to our arrival," Jefferson County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jacki Kelley said. "Some staff acted very quickly and very heroically."

Kelley said the weapon was a high-powered hunting rifle.

Suit possible over baby DNA sent to military lab for national database

Image via Wikipedia

Suit possible over baby DNA sent to military lab for national database.

The blood samples are taken without parental permission, from the heel during newborn screening tests for genetic disorders.

The blood spots are collected on coded cards, with the names matching those codes kept on file at the health department. Names are not disclosed without parental consent, the department says.

In March, attorney Harrington sued in federal court on behalf of four parents and a pregnant woman who later dropped out, claiming that the state's collection and indefinite storage of the samples since 2002 amounted to "an unlawful search and seizure."

The Legislature approved a law in May that requires medical professionals to inform parents or guardians that the blood spots are being collected, stored and could be used for research. Parents who object could opt out.

In December, Harrington settled his suit when the health department agreed to destroy 5.3 million samples.

"I can't tell you how many times we sat there, and they said no law enforcement," Harrington said of the lawsuit discussions. "They said, 'It's only about medical research, it's only about medical research.'

Delaware pediatrician indicted on more than 470 counts of sex abuse involving 103 children

Delaware pediatrician indicted on more than 470 counts of sex abuse involving 103 children - latimes.com.

Delaware pediatrician indicted on more than 470 counts of sex abuse involving 103 children

FILE - This file photo released Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009 by the Delaware State Police shows Dr. Earl Bradley. A Delaware grand jury returned a sweeping indictment Monday, Feb. 22, 2010 against the pediatrician accused of serial molestation in what could be one of the worst child sex abuse cases in the nation's history. The 160-page indictment returned by a Sussex County grand jury charges Bradley of Lewes, Del. with 471 counts of sexual crimes against 103 children. (AP Photo/Delaware State Police, File) (AP / December 23, 2009)

RANDALL CHASE Associated Press Writer

February 22, 2010 | 6:18 p.m.

DOVER, Del. (AP) — A Delaware grand jury returned a sweeping indictment Monday against a pediatrician accused of serial molestation in what could be one of the worst child sex abuse cases in the nation's history.

The 160-page indictment returned by a Sussex County grand jury charges Dr. Earl Bradley of Lewes with 471 counts of sexual crimes against 103 children.

Attorney General Beau Biden said all of the alleged victims, including one boy, were caught on more than 13 hours of video recordings, some dating to 1998, that were seized from Bradley's office and home.

"The charges in this indictment are unique in the history of the state of Delaware, as far as I can tell," he said.

"These were crimes committed against the most vulnerable among us — those without voices," Biden added as tears welled in his eyes and he paused to collect himself.

Biden said that while there have been other cases around the country involving multiple victims, "I know of no other that has this many victims."

The charges against Bradley include rape, sexual exploitation of a child, unlawful sexual contact, continuous sexual abuse of a child, assault and reckless endangering.

Bradley, who was arrested in December and initially charged with 29 felony counts for allegedly abusing nine children, is being held with bail set at $2.9 million. His medical license was permanently revoked by the state Board of Medical Practice last week.

Bradley's attorney, Eugene Maurer, said he had not read the indictment but was not surprised by the allegations.

"I'm sure they have their reasons for including all these different victims in this indictment," said Maurer, noting that under state law, a single conviction of rape would be enough to put Bradley behind bars for life.

Maurer added that the "real battleground" in the case will be Bradley's mental state, not what is seen on the videotapes or alleged in the indictment.

The indictment alleges Bradley was videotaping his sexual exploitation of patients as far back as December 1998. Many victims were assaulted repeatedly, some on consecutive days, according to the indictment, which alleges that one girl was raped more than a dozen times over a period that lasted more than a year.

Authorities would not say whether they think Bradley had videotaped all of his alleged assaults or whether there may be more victims.

"I expect that we will add to this indictment with new charges over the coming months," Biden said.

He encouraged parents and victims of Bradley, "regardless of age or gender," to contact prosecutors, who have sent out about 3,100 letters to Bradley's patients and set up an office in Lewes to handle complaints and direct potential victims and their families to counseling and other services.

"I know that today's indictment will reopen painful wounds," he said.

Sussex County prosecutor Paula Ryan declined to say how many alleged victims seen on videotape have been identified by name, or to provide an age range. The indictment refers to each alleged victim only as "Jane Doe" or "John Doe."

After years of suspicions among parents and questions about his strange behavior from colleagues, Bradley was arrested after a 2-year-old girl told her mother that the doctor hurt her in December when he took her to a basement room of his office after an exam.

The case has shocked the close-knit coastal community of Lewes and the central Delaware town of Milford, where Bradley closed an office in 2005 after police investigated him.

While prosecutors allege regular and repeated abuse by Bradley, the indictment contains a gap of more than a year, from October 2004 to June 2006, in which no alleged crimes are listed.

Biden and Gov. Jack Markell have ordered reviews to determine whether doctors, hospitals, state agencies or law enforcement authorities failed to comply with a state law that requires all such entities to report to the medical licensing board in writing within 30 days if they believe a doctor is or "may be" guilty of unprofessional conduct.

Biden said Monday that those investigations are aimed at determining "how this physician could lurk in our midst for as long as he did."

Duke lacrosse accuser charged with attempted murder, arson :: WRAL.com

Duke lacrosse accuser charged with attempted murder, arson :: WRAL.com.

Durham, N.C. — Durham police arrested Duke lacrosse accuser Crystal Gale Mangum, 33, late Wednesday after she allegedly assaulted her boyfriend, set his clothes on fire in a bathtub and threatened to stab him.

Her bond was set at $1 million. Mangum has been appointed a public defender and is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 22.

Police charged her with attempted first-degree murder, five counts of arson, assault and battery, communicating threats, three counts of misdemeanor child abuse, injury to personal property, identity theft and resisting a public officer.

Shortly after 11:30 p.m., police received a 911 call about a domestic dispute at 2220 Lincoln St. Authorities said they believe the call came from one of the three children inside the house.

When officers arrived, they found Mangum and her boyfriend, Milton Walker, 33, fighting. According to police documents, Mangum scratched, punched and threw objects at Walker and told him, "I'm going to stab you, (expletive)!"

She then went into a bathroom and set his clothes on fire in the bathtub, police said. Officers called the fire department to put out the flames. No one was injured.

Milton was not charged in the incident, police said. The three children inside the house, ages 3, 9 and 10, were not injured.

Officers said Mangum gave them a fake name, "Marella Mangum," and age, prompting the identity theft charge. She also resisted the officers who responded to the scene, according to police documents.

Mangum has been ordered to have no contact with Walker.

Mangum is the author of the memoir "Last Dance for Grace." She was a student at North Carolina Central University in 2006 and also worked as an exotic dancer when she performed at the now infamous Duke lacrosse party.

It was there, she claimed, that three white members of the team trapped her inside a bathroom and raped and sexually assaulted her. The three players were indicted on rape and other charges on the basis of her allegations and were eventually exonerated after North Carolina's attorney general dismissed the case.

Feds push for tracking cell phones

Feds push for tracking cell phones | Politics and Law - CNET News.

Two years ago, when the FBI was stymied by a band of armed robbers known as the "Scarecrow Bandits" that had robbed more than 20 Texas banks, it came up with a novel method of locating the thieves.

FBI agents obtained logs from mobile phone companies corresponding to what their cellular towers had recorded at the time of a dozen different bank robberies in the Dallas area. The voluminous records showed that two phones had made calls around the time of all 12 heists, and that those phones belonged to men named Tony Hewitt and Corey Duffey. A jury eventually convicted the duo of multiple bank robbery and weapons charges.

Even though police are tapping into the locations of mobile phones thousands of times a year, the legal ground rules remain unclear, and federal privacy laws written a generation ago are ambiguous at best. On Friday, the first federal appeals court to consider the topic will hear oral arguments (PDF) in a case that could establish new standards for locating wireless devices.

In that case, the Obama administration has argued that warrantless tracking is permitted because Americans enjoy no "reasonable expectation of privacy" in their--or at least their cell phones'--whereabouts. U.S. Department of Justice lawyers say that "a customer's Fourth Amendment rights are not violated when the phone company reveals to the government its own records" that show where a mobile device placed and received calls.

Stick it to them.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Sentencing ready for 2 in permit scheme - Crime/Safety - NewsObserver.com.

RALEIGH -- A federal judge is prepared to sentence two former company investors for conspiring to give $196,000 in cash and consulting fees to a then-state employee to expedite an air quality permit for an ethanol plant.

U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle set sentencing hearings today for David Lee Brady of Raleigh and James Albert Perry of Wake Forest. They entered plea agreements last June and each face up to five years in prison.

The two men acknowledged conspiring to commit extortion to get help from environmental regulator Boyce Allen Hudson, who pleaded guilty last year to extortion and money-laundering and received a 40-month prison sentence.

Perry and Brady each had a share in the company aiming to build a plant in Beaufort County.

GETTING DOPE OFF THE STREET

New Hanover sheriff's office makes mega mushroom bust | StarNewsOnline.com.

It's refreshing to see the turnaround in policy at the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office. Getting drugs off the street is job one in the drug unit. It used to go after the money.

New Hanover sheriff's office makes mega mushroom bust

Photo by David Reynolds

Thirteen pounds of hallucinogenic mushrooms and 12.5 pounds of marijuana was seized by members of the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office Vice and Narcotics in a weekend drug bust.

By David Reynolds
[email protected]

Published: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 4:24 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 4:44 p.m.

Wilmington | Thirteen pounds of hallucinogenic mushrooms with an estimated street value of $119,000 and 12 and a half pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $40,000 was seized by members of the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office Vice and Narcotics in a weekend drug bust.

Sheriff Ed McMahon said it was the largest mushroom bust in memory in New Hanover County.

Two people face multiple drug charges after the late Friday into early Saturday bust at 2307 Mimosa Place in Wilmington, the sheriff's office said.

Joshua Ryan Durrett, 31, of the Mimosa Place address is charged with trafficking in marijuana, possession of a firearm by a felon and possession with intent to sell and deliver mushrooms, the sheriff's office said. Durrett is in the New Hanover County jail in lieu of $100,000 bond.

Jennifer Lynn Chambers, 26, also of the Mimosa Place address, is charged with two counts of trafficking in marijuana in addition to the charge of possession with intent to sell and deliver mushrooms, the sheriff's office said. Chambers is in the New Hanover County jail lieu of $75,000 secured bond.

In addition to the drugs, a pistol and cash was seized during the raid, the sheriff's office said.

McMahon said the mushrooms, which contain the hallucinogenic substance psilocybin, was dried and packaged in small grocery bags.

He described the operation as a major dealer of mushrooms and marijuana that went beyond New Hanover County.

The investigation into the operation involved the New Hanover and Buncombe counties' sheriff's offices and the Raleigh Police Department.

David Reynolds: 343-2075

Guarascio to do 15 years in plea

Former cop sentenced in porn case – Legal Briefs - Wilmington Star News - Wilmington, NC - Archive.

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The 45-year-old owner of a private police force who used to be a New York city cop was sentenced today to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to producing child pornography — basically a sex tape with his 17-year-old girlfriend.

Joseph Guarascio pleaded guilty in September to the charge and other charges against him were dropped in a plea agreement.

Guarascio, who owned Inter-Pol Special Police Services, was sentenced in federal court in Raleigh.

Guarascio’s sentence was the minimum he could have received for the charge, according to the prosecutor who handled the case.

Though the age of consent in North Carolina is 16, it is illegal to film sexual activity with anyone under the age of 18.

So apparently sometime between September and his plea hearing today, Guarascio changed attorneys yet again and hired a Georgia lawyer to handle the sentencing.

Also, the federal prosecutor in the case, Ethan Ontjes, told me just now that Guarascio was given the minimum sentence in part because he’d helped out a jailer who was assaulted by an inmate while Guarascio was awaiting trial on the charges. It was a motion Ontjes filed to shave Guarascio’s federal time in prison.

Apparently Guarascio’s attorney wants him to be imprisoned in a Butner, N.C. federal prison and it looks like he may be headed there, Ontjes told me.

Also, Guarascio will have to serve at least 80 percent of his sentence, and then he’ll be on parole for the rest of his entire life not to mention he’ll be a registered sex offender.

Guarascio was charged with making child pornography after investigators confiscated his cell phone and computer during a search of his house. On his computer, investigators found more than 3,000 images of child porn. Guarascio was not charged with having the images on his computer, according to the feds and attorneys involved with the case.

Authorities had searched Guarascio’s house after a 14-year-old girl had reported to police that Guarascio had sexually assaulted her. Charges of statutory sex offense and indecent liberties involving the 14-year-old girl were dropped as part of the federal plea agreement. Other charges involving his 17-year-old girlfriend also were dropped as part of the deal.

Exposed: Naked Body Scanner Images Of Film Star Printed, Circulated By Airport Staff

Exposed: Naked Body Scanner Images Of Film Star Printed, Circulated By Airport Staff.

Claims on behalf of authorities that naked body scanner images are immediately destroyed after passengers pass through new x-ray backscatter devices have been proven fraudulent after it was revealed that naked images of Indian film star Shahrukh Khan were printed out and circulated by airport staff at Heathrow in London.

UK Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said last week that the images produced by the scanners were deleted “immediately” and airport staff carrying out the procedure are fully trained and supervised.

“It is very important to stress that the images which are captured by body scanners are immediately deleted after the passenger has gone through the body scanner,” Adonis told the London Evening Standard.

Adonis was forced to address privacy concerns following reports that the images produced by the scanners broke child pornography laws in the UK. When the scanners were first introduced, it was also speculated that images of famous people would be ripe for abuse as the pictures produced by the devices make genitals “eerily visible” according to journalists who have investigated trials of the technology.

However, the Transport Secretary’s assurances were demolished after it was revealed on the BBC’s Jonathan Ross show Friday that Indian actor Shahrukh Khan had passed through a body scan and later had the image of his naked body printed out and circulated by Heathrow security staff.

Within days of the devices being introduced at Heathrow, staff have abused their professionalism and printed out naked scans of a famous actor for their own titillation.

We were promised all along that the body scanners “increased privacy” because they were only accessible to a single staff member who had no personal contact with the passenger taking the scan, in addition to the assurance that the images could not be saved and were instantly deleted. It in fact turns out that airport staff have been saving, printing and circulating naked body scans in complete violation of these supposed guarantees.

Furthermore, we were told that the identity of the person undergoing the virtual strip search would also be kept private. The fact that Heathrow employees must have known that the actor was about to take the body scan in order to print out copies of the image also proves this claim to be a total fallacy.

The abuse of the naked body scan images in this instance is a total violation of every data protection law in the UK. Far from treating the story in a comical manner, Khan should be filing a very expensive lawsuit and preparing for a successful and lucrative outcome.

HOLLYWOOD EAST

PSI: Marine fears loss of combat pay - WECT TV6 -

 -  They are back from war and often flush with cash.

Combat bonuses can leave our veterans with thousands of dollars sitting in their savings accounts.

Jonathan Dean of Indian Trail, who recently left the Marine Corps after two tours in Iraq, fears he may have lost $8,000 of his combat pay.

"Four of us were in the military, just returned from Iraq." says Dean.  "I don't know if he knew it was combat pay, but he knew we had money saved up."

Dean is talking about Timothy Woodward, Jr, an actor who lives in Wilmington, NC.  He has been in a number of unsuccessful locally produced tv shows and movies.

Woodward was about to make a new movie called "Redefining Love."  Woodward would not only star in it, but produce it.

"It sounded pretty sound," said Dean.  "It sounded like it was really going to work out well."

Dean signed a contract with Woodward.  He would get 3% of whatever the movie makes.

"Redefining Love" premiered last Valentine's Day. Dean was there for the Wilmington premiere.

"A really horrible movie," said Dean.

Carmike Cinemas played the film in seven of its theaters for just seven days.  It wasn't going to make any money from the box office, but for Dean it didn't matter.  The contract he signed came with a guarantee.   He would get his $8,000, plus 20%.

It was to be paid back by December 1st, if not by a limited liability corporation set up for the movie, then by the production company.

Dean has yet to see any of the money.

It turns out the Marines aren't the only ones looking for money.

Several actors and crew members tell WBTV they are owed paychecks from past and current Woodward projects.

A Raleigh businessman says he borrowed Woodward $149,000 and has gone unpaid.  He asked not to be named, but provided WBTV with a copy of the loan agreement.

Questions about finances date back to 2005.  Woodward starred, produced and found the deep pockets needed to make a TV show called "Palmetto Pointe."

"He was a very good salesman," says Tim Casey.

Casey was a Charleston, SC real estate developer.   He says he spent between $2.5 and $3 million dollars on the show.

A big chunk of the cash was used to buy airtime on a fledgling cable network, similar to buying time for an infomercial.

Dismal ratings and dwindling cash led to the show's implosion just a few episodes into production.

"It was a very expensive education," says Casey.

Jonathan Dean wants to avoid the same experience.  He is going to be married soon and is just starting college.

"I didn't have any money to help out with bills, or anything like that," said Dean. "This whole responsibility has been placed on my fiance and that's a horrible feeling."

Woodward still lives in Wilmington in a nearly million dollar home in a gated near-ocean community.  He's also working on a new tv show called "Hollywood East."

"I'm a dreamer," said Woodward speaking of his acting ambitions. "I just went for it man."

He says finding financing for projects is always a struggle.

"Yeah, I mean you talk to people, you put it out, give them an option," said Woodward.

He says several Marines signed up to be a part of "Redefining Love."  They were brought to him by another Marine and business partner Paul Voelker.  Woodward says there are normally no guarantees, but did admit the contract he signed with Dean did promise the 20% return on investment.

"I've already accepted responsibility and I've tried to sit down and talk to him about it," said Woodward.

Woodward says he's closing in on an international deal for the movie.  He says Dean will be paid back soon.

"Yeah, it will be probably by the middle of February, but absolutely 100%," says Woodward.  "I can't help it if a film doesn't sell on time."

Dean says then Woodward shouldn't have put it in writing.

"It's very aggravating to think that I went to fight for the freedoms that we have," said Dean. "The freedoms that he has he uses to manipulate people."